Zakah on a debt owed by an insolvent person

Question : Regarding debts in the present time, if one person is asking another for dirhams, meaning I am asking so-and-so for ten thousand riyals, is it obligatory for me to pay zakah on these dirhams because they are my property, or is it not obligatory because they are not in my possession?

Answer : The correct view in this issue is to make a distinction; it is correct to make a distinction in this matter. The distinction is that if the debt is owed by an insolvent person, meaning a poor person who is unable to pay it off, then there is no zakah on it; there is no zakah on it, because I am unable to collect it. Am I unable to collect it by legal means or by physical means?
By legal means. I am unable to collect it by legal means; it is not permissible for me to demand it from him. If I were to demand it, I might get it; he might borrow from someone and give it to me. But by legal means, it is not permissible for me to demand it from him, due to the saying of Allah the Exalted: . So if the debt is owed by an insolvent person, there is no zakah on it, because I am unable to collect it; I am unable to collect this money. And what one is unable to collect is like what one does not possess, meaning it is as if I do not own these ten thousand, because I am unable to collect them. And what one is unable to collect is like what one does not possess. What benefit do I have in money that is in the liability of a poor person, which is not in my hand and not under my control either? I cannot force it out of him.